Over 500 players from the local, regional and global film industry have convened in Kigali for the second Kigali Audio-Visual Forum.

Held under the theme, ‘Tapping into the potential of Africa’s creative industries’, the two-day forum is a home grown solution that aims to bring tangible and measurable solutions that align with Rwanda and Africa’s development objectives, to ensure sustainable expansion of the audio-visual sector.

It is also a platform for audiovisual professionals to network, share knowledge and develop business opportunities.

Last year’s forum was the first of its kind in the region and attracted over 300 delegates from over 20 countries across the world.

This year’s discussions will cover topics such as producing exportable, authentic African content and helping up-and-coming African content creators to initiate co-financing and cross-border content production of projects.

Some of the notable speakers participating in this year’s forum include;

• Isaac Kwaku Fokuo, Founder and CEO of Botho Emerging Markets Group – an investment advisory and strategy consulting firm working on redefining and redirecting Africa’s positioning among emerging markets;
• Franck Priot, CEO and Founder of Ghost City and Ghost City Films holding, production companies that organize the filming of foreign productions, mainly from Asia in France.
• Jimmy Jean-Louis, renowned Haitian-French actor
• Nayo Wallace, American actress
• Malaika Uwamahoro, Rwandan actress
• Aime Abizera, Africa Region Manager, Canal Plus International

Delegates are also participating in valuable workshops with a chance to pitch projects as well as deliberate on the development of public financing mechanisms in the film and TV industry.

Speaking while delivering her opening remarks, Belise Kariza, RDB’s Chief Tourism Officer said:

“The Government of Rwanda recognizes the Audio-Visual sector as a key component for economic development and job creation especially for the youth and one of the high potential sectors of all creative industries with a promising niche market for film tourism and culture development. We consider it as one of the key components for economic development mostly through job creation. It is my hope that this forum will address the current challenges and find solutions together.”

While delivering her key remarks, Guest of Honor, Minister of Youth, Hon. Rosemary Mbabazi said:

“In Rwanda as well other countries across the world, the audio-visual sector has been recognized as one of the fastest growing areas of creative industries and a promising niche market for film tourism. The audio-visual sector embeds enormous potential to match employability needs and job creation especially for the young people. Therefore, promoting national talents and providing an encouraging working environment for people in the audio-visual industry in addition to putting in place services for international film productions will be key if we are to achieve our socio-economic development targets as set out in the National Strategy for Transformation.”

This year’s Kigali Audio Visual Forum has been organized by RDB together with the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) and a range of partners that include the Rwanda Convention Bureau, Rwanda Broadcasting Agency, Canal Plus International, French Embassy to Rwanda, the European Union Delegation to Kigali and Rwanda’s national carrier, RwandAir.